Jaguar near US-Mexican border

This video from the USA says about itself:

Wildlife and the Border Wall – This is a video about the wildlife, landscapes and people of the borderlands of the United States and Mexico. It is part of a project I am working on with the International League of Conservation Photographers to highlight the ecological and human impacts of the border wall the United States is currently building along our southern border.

From Wildlife Extra:

Jaguar amongst a host of wildlife photographed just 30 miles south of US-Mexico border

24/02/2010 12:30:08

February 2010. Almost one year after the death of the last known wild jaguar in the USA, Macho B, in Arizona, The Sky Island Alliance (SIA) have released the first photographs of a northern jaguar in the Mexican State of Sonora.

30 miles south of US-Mexico border

Three years into a conservationist-rancher partnership, a jaguar was photographed by a remote camera placed along an isolated canyon of the Sonoran Sky Islands. These are SIA’s first photographs of this elusive cat, and were taken only thirty miles south of the US/Mexico border.

Sky Island Alliance biologist, Sergio Avila, said “Northern jaguars are a reality and they want to stay. Jaguars don’t recognize political boundaries; instead they choose robust prey populations, open space and safe corridors. This healthy feline represents our chance to recover this species in the region.”

The Sky Island Region

The Sky Island region of northwest Mexico and southwest United States is a unique blend of temperate and tropical biological zones and species, and was named a World Biodiversity Hotspot by Conservation International in 2005. El Aribabi hosts over 35 species of plants and animals protected by Mexican law, including jaguars, golden eagles, Chiricahua leopard frogs and ocelots.

In the last three years Sky Island Alliance has surveyed northern Sonora, documenting a wide array of native wildlife species thriving in riparian, desert and oak woodland habitats. Working in partnership with Mexican ranchers, the group seeks to protect wild felid habitat, allowing species to roam free in a network of conservation ranches.

Ranch conservation

“We are thrilled about the results of this collaborative project,” said Carlos R. Elias, co-owner of El Aribabi, the ranch where the photographs were taken. “Our family has worked hard to restore ecological processes in this land. We hope this gets the attention of government agencies and foundations, so we can establish a sustainable model that protects biodiversity and supports landowners and their families at the same time.”

To support the recovery of this endangered cat in the Sky Island region, migration corridors must be protected, linking key habitat cores between Mexico and the United States. Additionally, the protection of jaguar habitat benefits a range of less prominent endangered species as well.

Ocelots

In the first month of the remote camera project, February, 2007, ocelots were documented at this ranch. Ocelots are another elusive, protected tropical cat whose northernmost range reaches northern Sonora. These were the first photographs of ocelots ever documented in the region and the first documented sighting in 40 years.

“The jaguar’s presence in this area confirms the excellent ecological conditions on the property and highlights the landowner’s efforts to protect biodiversity,” Avila said. “Jaguars in northern Mexico are the hope for jaguar recovery in the United States; this is a reminder of our responsibility and an opportunity to do things right this time.”

Sky Island Alliance

Sky Island Alliance is a grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of the rich natural heritage of native species and habitats in the Sky Island region of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. We work with volunteers, scientists, land owners, public officials, and government agencies to establish protected areas, restore healthy landscapes, and promote public appreciation of the region’s unique biological diversity.

This article mentions “our chance to recover this species [the jaguar] in the region”; including the south western USA. Indeed, as the article says: “Jaguars don’t recognize political boundaries”. However, if politicians abuse taxpayers’ money for militarist fortification of these boundaries, it may be too much even for strong animals like the jaguar. The article does not mention a major obstacle to jaguars, and other wildlife, coming back to the USA from the south: George W. Bush’s super sized Berlin Wall on the US-Mexican border.

Bush’s successor Obama is now cutting back on lots of government expenditure. While some of those cuts are unwise, hurting unemployed people, students and teachers, etc., scrapping expenses on expensive bloody wars, and on George W. Bush’s anti human and anti wildlife super size Texas to California Berlin wall, would be wise.

Tens of thousands of immigrant workers and their supporters marched in Washington Sunday as President Obama signaled support for legislation that would criminalize undocumented workers and further militarize the US-Mexican border: here.

Habitat loss from increasing urbanization and agriculture expansion were primarily responsible for the disappearance of the jaguarundi from Texas. The population was especially vulnerable once border security between Texas and Mexico cut it off from the neighboring jaguarundi population in Mexico: here.

Jaguars ‘Obsessed’ by Calvin Klein Cologne: here.

October 2011: More jaguars have been discovered in Bolivia than ever before in a new camera trap survey by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS): here.

GPS tracking gives insight into hunting habits of Brazilian jaguar: here.

Brazil’s Operation Jaguar: Busting a Poaching Ring: here.

Diverse habitats needed for survival of small mammals in Mexico: here.

Related articles

• Government Establishes Plan For Endangered Texas Wildcat
• Return of the Jaguarundis: Federal Plan Could Bring Small Endangered Cats Back to Texas

• Sneaking this in before Anti-Caturday (freethoughtblogs.com)
• Tail seen in photo was Ariz. jaguar’s, 9 of 10 experts say (azstarnet.com)
• Noah Greenwald: Mysterious Photo Adds Urgency to Saving Jaguars’ Home (huffingtonpost.com)